The Girl Who Cried Pervy Hedgehog
by Puggers
Summary: Naruto, Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi have a mission, but along the way they pick up Belle, a poor traveler. Could she come in handy for the mission? KakaxOC
1. Chapter 1

Hi there! This is my first story, but I don't have a title yet...I'm sure I'll come up with one. Anyway, I guess I should put that I don't own any of the characters except for Belle Tikishi here. Yep, I randomly came up with the last name. Be glad it's not Tikihiti. I don't even know if that sounds Japanese...

I had trouble starting the story too; I didn't have the hang of the story yet I guess.

------------------------

I had been walking for a very, very long time. The forest around me was beautiful—birds sang out as they glided from tree to tree, lizards scrambled through the tall stems of the various shrubs, and one time I even thought I spotted a leopard's coat through the foliage.

_That was just a snake_, I thought, _a very large snake with scales that look furry. No claws…. It's going the other way anyway._

Yes, I was trying to keep from being paranoid. You see, I was lost in a forest, and a tropical one at that. Now, I had never been good at reading maps, but when I decided that maybe Suna village would be a good place to find another job, I thought it would be easy to find. I figured that it was surrounded by desert and spot-able, plus add in my handy-dandy map, and it would be a piece of cake to get from point A to B. Signs would be easy to find, and not obscured behind large trees/stones/etc. No (sane) hooligans would be running around the desert, pulling said signs out of the sand, and repositioning them to point in different directions.

And yes, I have followed misleading signs, obviously. I have no sense of direction, even when holding a map, so I rely on visual checkpoints to tell me I'm heading in the right direction. And let me tell you—a forest when I was supposedly walking through a desert was a bad sign. A really bad sign.

But I continued on anyways. _Just because I see trees around me when I should be seeing endless sand dunes does not mean I'm going the wrong way. This must be one of those cheap maps…_

_Well, I DID find it in a dumpster…_

I'm stubborn like that.

And so I dragged myself on, gradually getting more upset at the cartographer who wrote the map as I tuned out my surroundings.

SPLASH!!!

"OWWWW, HOT!!!!" I jumped out of the hot spring as fast as I could and rediscovered the real world.

Great, now my clothes are gonna need to dry. I guess I'd better set up camp here…it shouldn't be so bad. I might be lost, but I still can relax with the help of this oasis here. I guess life can be good sometimes…

_

* * *

_

I slipped into the springs with a bit more grace than I did before, and sighed both out of exhaustion and frustration. _My life is always so random, but I guess it's a good thing…_

* * *

"COME ON! I MEAN, HOW LONG COULD IT TAKE TO GET THERE!!!!"

Naruto screamed out for the 47th time. And shortly after a pale-skinned fist dropped on his head.

"COULD YOU CAN IT?! MY HEAD HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN SPLIT INTO FOURTHS, BAKA!!!" Sakura retorted, with violence just as usual.

"Why do you both fight so much? You're friends. I don't understand." Sai muttered while flipping through his book on human behavior.

Meanwhile, another was also flipping through his pages as normal. The copycat nin had decided a long time ago to not get involved.

"Oww, Sakura-chan, that hurt. I just can't wait to start this mission, I've never been a detective before…HEY! Trees aren't supposed to be in the desert, right?"

All three others turned their heads, and Kakashi decided to finally say something.

"Well, it seems to me that this would be a good place to set up camp, because I doubt any mirages are going to get as real as this."

"All RIGHT!!!!!" Naruto gleamed, "Hey, do you see that fog in there, between those palm trees on the right? What do you think it is?"

"Maybe it's haunted…" added Sai, and Naruto just about keeled over.

* * *

The four ninja were very weary of the little tent they found. Inside there was just one set of clothes, a box of…. very unappetizing stale crackers, and some other personal things like a brush, toothpaste, etc. It would have seemed they found a fellow traveler, if not for the sword they discovered wrapped up in an orange scarf.

"It could be a trap," Sakura observed, "But maybe we can hide out in the forest and surprise her when she comes back."

"That is a good plan, Saku—"

"How do you know it's a girl?!" Naruto butted in on Kakashi's comment.

Sakura was about to ignore him, when the three heard a loud snap and immediately froze.

Sai was holding up a plain, black bra and playing with the straps.

"Are these really that comfortable?" Sai was about to try it on over his clothes, but Sakura had landed a sucker punch in a split second. Naruto was about to keel over, but this time from stifling laughter. Kakashi face palmed.

"Okay, so now that that's cleared up, let's head for the trees. And put everything back EXACTLY where you found it. Got it?" The sensei commanded, and immediately everything was set back to normal, and the ninjas crept into their stealthy positions.

* * *

The air quickly dropped in temperature as I headed back from my bath. I didn't have far to walk to reach my campsite, so I didn't get that cold even though I was only in a towel. And the annoying was that there were so many twigs on the ground that I sounded like a horse galloping on metal. It was loud. I wondered what must have happened in the branches above me, but I figured it was an animal, not 4 ninjas waiting to ambush me.

Faster than I could blink, one person had a hold on me, with an arm around my neck, and something unmistakably sharp against my back. He was standing behind me, when he questioned sort of menacingly,

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" He seemed to put more pressure on my neck as he waited for an answer. I heard 3 more almost faint sounds, and three others appeared after jumping down from the canopy.

"I, I…. I'm just looking for the closest village. I, I got los..t on my way to Su….Sun.a. I—"

"What. is. your. name." He really didn't seem to believe me, guessing from his tone of voice.

"Belle Tikishi." I waited. It felt like hours, but it must have only been about a one minute long stretch of silence.

"Why is there a sword in your tent?" A girl voice on my left asked me.

"I found it…it was an old abandoned building…in Iwaran, a tiny town that is more like a refuge camp. I…I didn't mean to steal it, but nobody had lived there in ages and people are desperate when they are poor….I needed it to protect myself…if you want it you can take it…I swear just please—"

I started to blush madly when I realized my towel had slipped a bit. I was never good in situations when it came to something like romance, and the mere thought of my own bare skin scared me. I had no self-confidence. I went to grab the slowly sliding towel when the man behind me quickly dropped whatever weapon he was holding and locked my arms at my side.

"No quick movements. We still have more questions."

"No, I, you don't understand." I mumbled and looked down. The towel hadn't even moved more than a few millimeters, but it still got me worked up.

"Are you a ninja, or just a swordsman?" He had turned to the pink haired kunoichi. "Actually, Sakura, is there a way you can use your medical ninjutsu to see if her chakra network has been used recently?" She came forward, extended her arms in front of my chest, and they started glowing a strange green.

"Sensei, it seems she has used it, but not by much at all. I don't think she's a ninja, unless she has techniques that work with very miniscule amounts of chakra."

"What?" Some other ninja to my right sounded confused. And his voice was too loud and annoying for this forest.

"Naruto, I can tell you what it means later." Another ninja also to my right told the confuzzled one.

Meanwhile, I was so quiet I could hear every last single person's breathe. My towel was still one of my biggest concerns. I had had it wrapped around me very high up above my chest, and now I had a lot of cleavage showing. I gulped and tried but failed to stop the sweat from forming on the back of my neck.

"Well, hmmmm…" The man behind me went on again, "We probably should just camp next to her for the night, and keep someone on watch. If we stay for the night and no reinforcements come, we could bring her along to the village our mission is in. That way, we will know if she is telling the truth. At least, partly know. You can never know for sure…."

Now he actually sounded a little bored. That jerk, he could at least let go of me.

"All right! By the way, lady, where did you go for a swim? I'm dying to dive into a lake right now. I mean, I dunno about you, but I just got out of the desert!" the bright-but-dim one said in a significantly louder voice.

"I um…just head straight in the direction I came from…it's only a 10 minute walk or so…" I was still mumbling a little. Now that I paid attention to him, the blond bigmouth practically sprinted past me laughing, and the pink haired girl chased after him.

"NARUTO YOU BAKA!!! YOU HAVE TO WAIT!!! YOU HAVE TO SET UP THE TENT, IT'S YOUR TURN!!!!" She was only three feet behind him and gaining, but both kept running for the springs.

"Kakashi-sensei, do you need help with the tent or can I…"

"You can go, Sai." The man behind me sighed in defeat. He sure failed as the leader.

And so the last pig joined the 2 other piggy-wiggies on the way to the market…or should I say springs. Meanwhile, I was left with the man still gripping my arms. I couldn't turn to see what he was doing; all I could think about was my towel. Which I should not have done. Because when I think too hard and hope something won't happen, and I mean begging and praying and pleading it won't, it surely, undoubtedly, will come to pass.

My towel slowly fell to the ground, and alarms went off in my head. And that towel, to me, fell in slo-mo matrix motion. My inner voice was screaming in a low, deformed version of itself, NOOOOOO!!! I closed my eyes, drooped my head, and started blushing so much that I could have been mistaken for a very ripe tomato.

But nothing happened.

My arms were still being held at my sides. The man, I'm guessing, was still watching his comrades depart. It did happen in a second, after all. My mind just stretches out moments of hell like my own personal torture device.

I braced myself for the embarrassment when he turned his head, and heard a little gasp. I think a few minutes passed by. Okay, maybe only 3 seconds. But still.

"I, I, I…! I'm sorry Belle-san, I, I, I, I'll let go of you…." He was actually stuttering.

I barely registered what he was saying. All I could hear was _GO FOR THE TOWEL THE SECOND YOU CAN _being chanted in my brain. He let go and I immediately crouched down, swiped up my towel, and wrapped it around me, while I started to sprint for my tent. My safe haven. Made of cloth. Scratch that last part.

When got inside I grabbed my one-and-only raggedy blanket, curled up with the box of stale crackers, and cried quietly to myself. I was too worked up to even open the box before I fell into deep sleep.

* * *

Yeah, I know it ended a little emo...but that just means emotional, which is good in a story, right? :D

Any way, Belle isn't going to be such a wimp, she'll change. And Kakashi does act like his normal self later on (which is sarcastic in my story...) and he doesn't stutter really anywhere else yet. And yes, I do like to have fun with Sai's character even though I hate him in the actual Naruto series.

I all ready have lots more typed, but I had this no-so-smart idea to type the whole story into one document and now I have to break it up. :(


	2. Chapter 2

I all ready have a lot written so I'm going to put up as much as I can.

* * *

I woke up and it was still dark, after having dreams about the same moment, reliving the shame over and over again. No, I'm not getting too worked up. It's not like nobody has ever seen me naked…my mom and dad and even the doctor must have when I was born, right? I know I'm pathetic, but please just keep it to yourself, okay? Don't burst my bubble; my mind has all ready gone…

I stared off into the dirty fabric that was my tent when I found I could hear snoring. I turned my head, at first frightened, but then I remembered it was just them. Just them plus one other person who had seen me in my birthday suit. Who was probably laughing at my body anyway. I hate neighbors.

I decided to peek my head out and see if maybe they left. Maybe there was just a leopard sleeping and snoring next to my tent, just anything but _him_. I knew deep down that I was just fooling myself with these pitiful scenarios.

I grabbed the cloth curtain door and slowly poked my head out. I looked to my right. Yep, a large tent. Big enough for about 4 people. Or maybe some leopards got smart and learned how to set up a tent? I turned my head away from it and was about to recede back into my own cozy commode when something to my left moved. I jumped and looked into the eyes of my greatest fear….

"Cookie?" he held out something to me and chuckled nervously.

I pulled my self back into my cloth cave with the speed of an antelope running across a plain, except they have grace. I did not. I knocked over one of the supporting twigs that shaped my fabric house's front side, and after catching the stick, I swung it back into the slanted position, and hit the twig directly above me that extended from the front opening to the back of the tent. In short, it held the roof up.

The cloth fell down and covered me, and I would have laughed if it was just me. But it wasn't.

Besides, he was laughing enough for the both of us. I mean, not loud annoying laughter, but lots and lots of low chuckles. I could tell by sound he was getting closer to me.

When he recovered, he said in a playful tone, "Don't move so fast in such a ramshackle tent like yours. I was in it before and could tell it wouldn't last very long, but I'm sure it would have had a slightly longer lifespan no thanks to you."

I couldn't see him but soon I felt the remains of my tent being lifted from me. Luckily, I still had my blanket to keep me covered. I was really thankful for that. He actually peeked his head under the cloth and looked at me sort of cautiously and then asked, "Can you still find your clothes in this mess? I sort of want to talk to you."

"I sort of don't…" I mumbled very quietly.

"Don't want your clothes? Fine. I just thought you'd be more comfortable—"

"Fine!" I didn't yell it, but it was the loudest I had spoken to him so far. He dropped the blanket like a real gentleman. And when I say real gentleman I don't mean "real". "Real gentlemen" don't exist. I quickly felt around for my clothes and found them, got dressed, and crawled out of my tent on all fours. He was sitting on a rock to my left, with his elbow on his knee, resting his head on his hand. I was aware of his stare before I even looked over at him. And I knew he was smiling. I try not to swear, but I did in my mind.

"You look like a monkey on all fours. Did anyone ever tell you that?" He laughed and it hurt. I just stared at him after I got up on two feet.

"You act like monkey. I'm sure you have the brain of one too." Why yes, I am easily upset. What makes you ask?

"That wasn't very nice. I was about to offer to build you a better tent, but I think I'll just watch you rebuild it now. I'm sort of curious as to how a "desperate, poor person" goes about making a makeshift home." It sounded like acid to me, but in reality he was only teasing me.

So then I decided to fight fire with fire.

I stuck my tongue out.

He started chuckling even more than he did before. I should have told him that he sounded like a hyena. I waited for him to make some face at me, until I actually looked at his face. His masked face. I'm not very observant obviously.

He kept laughing and said something I couldn't hear.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"You look and act like a child. Ha ha…" he was still laughing about it. I started to turn around and look for the twigs I used to support my once standing home base.

And yes, I took that comment to heart too. I couldn't help thinking that he was saying something about my body earlier. Tears welled up but I made them stay welled and nothing more. I had all ready made a lopsided triangle with some sticks when he crept up beside me.

"You can't use those sticks, one of them all ready has a crack." He pointed to one.

I didn't even look. "Just a scratch."

"Really…"and with that he snapped the twig in half.

"HEY!" I still didn't speak too loudly at him. "What did you do that for?!"

"I was only demonstrating…." He trailed off I'm guessing because I had a traitor of a tear falling down my cheek. "Here," he started more sincerely than ever before, "let me go find you more sturdy branches, and I'll set up your tent. While I'm at it, try some of those chocolate chip cookies." He finished in an almost-whisper, and pointed out the cookies on the rock he was on before. When I turned to look back he was all ready gone.

I inched my way toward the rock and opened the tiny plastic sandwich bag that they were wrapped in. I clutched a gooey biscuit, and even though it tasted a little like defeat, it tasted pretty damn good compared to expired saltine crackers.

* * *

I had all ready finished the bag and my eyes were dry when he came back. But instead of talking to me, he gave me a quick glance and proceeded to build my tent. Things sort of get blurry around here. I think I fell asleep. On a rock. I must have been pretty tired…

But the one thing I do remember was being scooped up into someone's arms; it was too bumpy of a ride to not wake me up. But I was still tired, and half asleep as he set me down into the newly made tent, and then quietly snuck out.

* * *

Okay, Belle was still sort of wimpy here. It changes, it does.

I want a cookie.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up to a loud commotion. _Ughhh….Why are neighbors ALWAYS noisy?_ I scratched my head and listened for a bit.

"SAI, STAY AWAY FROM ME!!! DON'T CROSS THIS LINE! AT ALL!" Naruto was using his outdoors voice again. Meaning outdoors-on-a-mountain-voice that's surely to cause an avalanche.

"But Naruto, I was only pointing out that that dark shape we saw in the mist yesterday could have been a spirit. Maybe there are native tribes around here." Sai responded.

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! LA LA LA!" I was guessing the hyper one was afraid of ghosts.

I brushed my hair a little and scrubbed my teeth quietly. I barely had any toothpaste left so I didn't even need to rinse my mouth. I wore the same clothes as I had on last night—I had no other outfits. I was a very poor traveler.

I summed up some courage and stepped out of the tent. The two shinobi were still at it, and I was guessing the others were back in the tent. Just then, the girl came out fuming and looking ready to kill. Their tall leader came out a few seconds later.

"Naruto, Sai, could you at least act like it's morning?" The masked guy said as the pink haired girl pummeled the one with the spiky blond hair.

_The loud one_, I thought.

The leader continued, "Look, we have a new person joining our group today. We can at least introduce ourselves to Tikishi-san before she goes mad." Was it just me, or did he always sound passive? _Well, he had some emotion…_ I blushed at the thought of yesterday's incident.

All for of them turned to me, and it's easy to guess who jumped to be first.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Haruno Sakura."

"Sai."

"And I'm Hatake Kakashi." He seemed to smile a bit.

Key in awkward silence and small wind gusts here.

"Well…" Kakashi started again, "Let's get some chow then." Everything seemed to return to normal chaos from there. I went back into my tent to get some of my own chow. _Compared to those cookies, these crackers will taste like dirt…_ I was thinking, until I got the brilliant idea to go catch a fish. There was water in this rainforest, no doubt. The only drawback is that I would have to use my hands to catch one. _This will definitely be more than a little difficult, but at least I'll be away from those people._

With that I left my tent and headed in a random direction, and decided I would keep my path straight, no matter what. I disappeared into the thicker part of the forest while the remaining ninja sat around arguing and eating food they had packed. One pair of eyes watched me go…or maybe it was just one eye watching?

* * *

"Well, I guess I'm not going to eat much for brunch today. Sakura, Sai, Naruto, I think I'm just going to take a walk. Pack up the tents while I'm gone." Kakashi declared about 2 minutes after Belle had left. "I have to keep an eye on our friend."

"Awww…" Naruto and Sakura whined simultaneously. Sai just sat there, emotionally challenged. Kakashi slinked off into the forest.

"HEY! SENSEI!" Naruto called after him, "Can I have your food if you're leaving?"

Kakashi gave a loud sigh, which apparently meant "yes" to Naruto. Then he continued on to follow Belle.

* * *

I stayed true to my plan. I kept walking straight and amazingly, a river popped up in front of me. About time, I had all ready walked for half an hour and needed time to walk back plus cook the fish. And then eat it. Talk about poor planning on my part_._

I rolled up the cuffs of my pants and stepped into the water. Freezing. Great. I stood there for a while and waited to spy a fish.

And I waited, waited, waited until right as I was going to abandon the cause, a fat fish came paddling down the stream. _Here is my chance! One fish, possibly the only fish I will ever see today. _

_One. _

_Two. _

…

_Three!_

I lunged into the water and managed to touch the slimy bugger, but my grip was anything but solid. I hopped around, trying to keep my balance on the muddy river bottom as the fish tried to escape. If I let go, I would have scared more than half the fish in this section of the river. I could wait here for another 4 hours and nothing might ever come this way.

Just as I got a grip on the fish, I figured the best plan would be to spring it onto the forest floor. It was too slippery to hold otherwise. I was lucky enough that my toss made it, but I might have overshot it a little. Okay, a lot.

But you know as they say, what goes around comes around. The fish was no sooner flopping on the dry dirt than I was flopping in the wet mud of the riverbed. My foot got caught on a river stone, and I fell face-first into the large stream. But not enough to drown. I rose above the water surface, spitting out water, and hastily swam to the shore. I climbed out in a sloppy sort of way, but all I wanted was my fish.

I looked around.

I did a whole 360.

My future meal was nowhere to be found. _No way. It did NOT flop close enough to the river and escape…did it?_

"Hey look, I caught a fish on land. Evolution?" A familiar voice on the opposite riverbank made me jump. "I would have said that I didn't know you were a fish, but the last animal comment I made didn't seem to impress you."

I took a second before I stuttered out, "Y-you know, that's my fish. You saw me fall in, and I'm guessing you saw me catch it then too." I finally looked him in the eye, but only for a second. I quickly stared at something else. His weird silver hair. He didn't seem that old…

"I figure you owe me from last night. For carrying you to bed. I even gave you sugar to help you stay up. Not that I didn't want you to get a good night's rest…" He trailed off.

"So I'm heading back to cook this up. You might want to hang out here and dry your clothes off. You seem to be easily embarrassed, and you will need to explain to my students why you're soaking wet. Well, mostly to Sai. He likes to know what humans behave like and—"

SPLASH!

I had jumped into the river and crossed to the other side, where the grass was greener in terms of my food. When I crawled out for the second time today, I grabbed at his foot, but he had all ready taken a step back.

"Now, now, just because you like wearing wet clothes all day doesn't mean I do." He looked down on me. I had all ready stood up and lunged AGAIN for that stupid fish.

_I did not waste my time here just to have you take my prize!_

I swiped at the hand with the fish in it, but he kept moving it a second before I reached it. The fish went from left to right, to far left and upper left, far right and above right. He stopped moving his arm and dangled it above my head, wiggling it like bait. Did I forget to mention he was laughing?

Instead of playing his game, I made my own rules. I kicked as hard as I could, aimed right between his legs. Not to be mean, or anything. Okay…maybe a little mean. But instead of crumpling down to my satisfaction, a puff of smoke randomly transported itself in front of me, and I kicked a log.

"OW!" I hopped on one foot only two times.

"That's not fair play. How would you like it if I cheated too?" He said from one of the gazillion trees around me. I couldn't see him, but the second he said that I froze._ Well, I know he's a ninja, but is he threatening to actually use one of those weird elemental ninja moves on me? Or is he going to fight in some other dirty way?_ I didn't like where my thoughts were headed.

And as I stood still like the perfect little target I am, that scarecrow man poofed up behind me, and wrapped his arms around my waist. I started to blush like I always do in situations like this. I've got to break this habit of mine. Any normal girl would have some line of defense for this kind of thing. I just stayed frozen. I wondered where the fish was too at the back of my mind, but that was a very quiet comment. I was focused on his arms. He started moving both his arms up my body while still hugging me pretty tightly. He got to the point where he was just pushing up against my breasts when he lowered his arms again. And then he let go.

"I'm sorry. There's no need to shake like that, I wasn't going to take it any further than that. Honestly." Kakashi said in a hushed tone. I didn't even know I was shaking, and after I registered that, he let go of me and I started to walk away from him. "The camp's the other way." He put his hand on my shoulder. "Let's go back and have some fish. You can have first dibs, okay?"

I nodded and turned around, but tried not to look up. I wanted my face hidden. I jumped back in the water to cross again, but when I reached the other side he was all ready there and helped me out of the water. He didn't seem to be smiling about me swimming this time.

We walked back very silently, minus the random snappingtwigs and dripping water, both caused by me. We had walked three-fourths of the way when he spoke up again.

"Belle-san, you know I didn't…well, really mean anything back there. I was just teasing you…and I didn't mean to put you into such an awkward situation…"

_I seem to have a penchant for awkwardness,_ I thought.

"…And you can still have the whole fish, I only grabbed it so nothing else did…. and, well, about that _other_ time, I…" The copy nin was having one of those rare, tongue-tied moments.

Personally, I was hoping he didn't bring that up again. I can't talk about stuff like that…but it looked like he had the same problem.

"I thought you looked very sexy."

Nope, he had no problem saying it. _I guess we're not alike at all then._

But the comment still made me feel good inside. My eyes were still directed at the forest floor and my face flushed a bit more. That's the bad thing about blushes, they appear too quickly, and leave only when you stop hoping that they would fade away fast. At least for me, that is.

Soon, we reached familiar grounds, except when I looked up, still red, I was shocked.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

"WHERE DID ALL MY STUFF GO?!" I yelled with my normal loudness at last.

"Shhh, Sakura-chan will hear you and get mad. She says people who talk so loud give her headaches! If she comes, hide behind Kakashi-sensei." Naruto had one hand cupped to the side of his mouth, whispering across to me from a small fire. Sure enough, Sakura came out of nowhere, but didn't yell at me. Instead, she reported to the leader.

"Kakashi-sensei, everything's packed in the bags over there, and Sai went out to look for you. I told him not to, but he was worried Tikishi-san attacked you or something. He went to see if you needed backup" The was a moment of silence. "What happened to Tikishi-san's clothes?"

I stalled a second, but Kakashi butted in.

"She fell into a river."

"Hehe hee, why'd she do that? She just had a bath the other night." Naruto laughed.

I was suddenly glad he had a violent comrade such as Sakura to shut him up. But this time, she offered no assistance. She had given up on Naruto for the moment.

Almost immediately, Kakashi had an answer.

"I pushed her."

"KAKASHI SENSEI?! What's wrong with you!?" That was Sakura. "First, you show up late all the time, and second, when you even bother to show up, you hide your face behind pervy books, and now you suddenly just push people into rivers? You're always so rude! Ugh. You and Naruto combined irritate me so much I could—"

"Yo. What up dogs?"

A man wearing a black bandana walked out from between two trees, followed by more bandana-wearers. I'd say there were probably about 15 of them after they formed a line in front of our former campsite. In the middle of the line two thugs dropped an unconscious Sai to the ground. The man who spoke first spoke again.

"Yo, we just thought to do y'all a favor and give you back your trash. Found him snoopin' in our part of the forest, and sorry to say, but y'all oughta go now too. Scram!"

His voice was as ragged as his unshaven face.

"Okay, okay, we'll leave…" Kakashi hedged as he scratched his head, "We'd just like to know how to get to a town called Yumai. Without violating your territory, of course."

While Kakashi spoke, the leader of the gang mumbled something and started laughing. A couple of his henchmen did too.

"I don't know what you want there, but bro that place is one shithole of a town. All you could possibly get there is lice!" He suddenly smirked, "But if you really want go there, you can cross through our territory. Let's just set up a fair trade here. We want all your money." He looked straight at me. "But remember, we still got your friend right here," He walked over and more than nudged Sai with his boot, "We trade you one human for another. That girly there is the only one who would fit the bill." And sure enough, he was pointing his finger right at me. When life goes downhill, it practically skydives.

I was worried they would trade me. It was as clear as Sai was their friend, and I was a stranger and possible enemy. It was win-win except for the money part. But who brings that much to work with them every day? I closed my eyes and waited for our masked leader's decision.

But none came. I just heard a lot of heavy thumps, and when I opened my eyes the once-standing gang in front of me was face down in the dirt. _Wow, this might have been my only chance to watch a ninja, no 4 ninja, fight, and I had my eyes closed. Great._

Sakura's hands were glowing green again, and Sai was all ready gaining consciousness.

"Sorry everyone, I actually couldn't find Kakashi-sensei, so I just fell asleep somewhere nice. How did I get back here?" Sai looked a little confused. "Hmm, did someone hit me in the back of my head. It's very tender there…"

"Let me treat it, Sai. Next time, listen to me." Sakura was angrier than she sounded, but needed to concentrate.

"That was fun! I was thinking it would suck if we didn't get _some _action soon!" Naruto stated, clearly he had way too much adrenaline pumping through his veins. Every day. Al the time.

"Naruto, just help me gather all the bags. We really should get a move-on." Kakashi-sensei sounded bored.

I couldn't believe they were so fast. I knew what a ninja was, but always got the feeling to run when you see one—they were deadly. And this team definitely had deadly down. Deadly speed. I was almost scared that I had been sleeping next to them this whole time…

My thoughts were cut off when Kakashi started to talk to me.

"Hey, Belle-san, don't worry about thugs like that. We're experts, and resort to bargaining only on the rarest of occasions. I was only seeing if it could be solved without violence, but I guess not today." He stopped, I guess to see if I was listening, and I was.

"And although we put our lives on the line, we don't do the same to those who are traveling companions." He seemed to be smiling. "On another note, I have your sword here, and was just wondering if you wanted to keep it with you or packed away."

"I'm not usually that eager to show it off since I can't fight that well…so packed would be better, I think." The man wasn't even breathing hard. Was it really that effortless for ninja to do stuff like that?

"Okay, but it might be better if I carried it with me. It doesn't exactly fit too well in our bags." He proceeded to wrap cloth strips around the sword and orange scarf that clothed it. After a bunch of complicated knots he had arm straps that allowed the sword to rest on his back. It was sorta cool until I realized why the cloth was so familiar.

"DID YOU CUT APART MY TENT?!" I yelled at him. That was uncalled for. If I knew, I would have just carried it.

"Heh, well, you see your tent was really not going to hold up for so much longer, and it's a pain just to set up one tent, and two tents…" He saw me glaring. "Look, our tent is very big and can hold up to six people, or two ninja teams. You can fit in easily. Very spacey. Your other tent was pathetic, but we can get you a better one later. There's nothing to be upset about."

I was still staring, but was a little bit calmer. _Phew, now instead of dealing with a frustrating-to-build tent, I would just have to deal with a frustrating group of four problem ninja. At least the tent didn't talk._

"So anyway, we're heading off to Yumai. Only a day or two away from here, unless you're a slow sprinter."

He smiled and poofed away.

Talk about mood swings.

And if he was serious about sprinting…well, I didn't want to think about it. A cool breeze drifted by.

I _really _hoped my clothes would dry soon.


	5. Chapter 5

I can't say if I'm lucky to not have not been forced to walk, because it was pretty uncomfortable riding piggyback style on a ninja hopping through trees. Not to mention I sneezed about eighty times due to someone's silver, gravity-defying hair that liked to tickle my nose. In fact every time I sneezed, he chuckled.

The sword that he had previously worn on his back was now banging up against his chest as he leaped from branch to branch, but he didn't seem to mind. Naruto of course was way ahead, burning off his energy in a surprisingly new, quiet way. He even seemed to have the largest bag to carry too. Sakura and Sai also were both transporting fairly big weights ahead of us by at least 15 feet. Kakashi had by far the heaviest weight of all, me, plus a sword. I could not figure out how he could be smiling let alone laughing in this situation.

I had all ready gotten stiff from this position not more than a mere 15 minutes after we started this journey, but I couldn't get myself to loosen up. I had my arms wrapped around his neck, and wanted to rest my head on his right shoulder to avoid his hair, but I couldn't sum up the courage to put my face that close to his. I did grow up mostly alone, and wasn't used to human contact unless you were stealing and got caught. I eventually decided to rest my chin on the upper back part of his head despite his poofy hair. I could at least stare at the clouds and look for shapes and forget about life for a little bit.

But about 3 seconds after I let my chin lean on him, he bobbed his head down and ruined my position. Then he bent his head back as is to look at the clouds like I did.

"Sorry, my neck was stiff." I could hear him trying to hold back a snicker. I tried to ignore him because I had the feeling that if I got upset it would only satisfy him.

I lasted a good 3 minutes; a new record.

"Can you at least allow me a little bit of comfort? It's been over three hours and I can't exactly move around that much like this. I think both my legs are all ready asleep." I whined as I usually do when I'm fed up with something.

"Really? Both your legs, completely numb?" I didn't think I liked his tone. "So you can't feel my hands at all? Hmmm. I wonder if—?" He threw some gasoline on the fire. It was then that I started to squirm around. I released my arms from around his neck, but that was a definite mistake.

Right after I let go, he immediately landed and stopped on a branch while I was making air circles behind me with my arms to keep from falling backwards. He dropped my legs so that I could stand on the branch with him, and as he did so, I found better use of my arms and wrapped them around his waist to steady myself. I opened my eyes to find my head buried in the middle of his back. _Curses. He would only be more satisfied now that I had made a total fool of myself._

Sure enough, I could feel his body shake slightly with laughter. I immediately pulled my head back, but kept my arms around him since the branch was so narrow.

"If you wanted to stop, you only needed to say so." He looked behind his shoulder at me with a definite smirk on his masked lips. "I think you need a timeout, Belle-chan."

That jerk! Now he was addressing me like some two-year old. What was I supposed to do? Wait and see what he was going to do with his hands? No way.

I was still putting on a sour face when he broke free of my grip and twirled around. He swung me over his left shoulder so that my upper body dangled from behind him, and all that was visible from the front were my two legs and probably a good view of my rear. I was all ready banging on the back of his knee with one of my arms, remembering a trick that would make a person collapse if they were relaxed enough.

"Here," He said smugly, "I changed your position for you. Maybe after half an hour I'll switch you to my other shoulder, kay?" He returned to gliding through the trees without even giving me a chance to answer. He also ignored my fist that was continuously pounding now on the back of his upper leg.

"Kakashi-sensei! Look, the forest is opening up ahead and there's more desert! And I'm hungry!" Naruto was yelling to his sensei who landed on the branch next to him in under a minute. Sakura and Sai were also hanging around on nearby branches.

"Well, we did start off pretty late in the day, and it might be better to camp in the forest while we still have the option. I guess we'll stop here and rest for the night…" Kakashi trailed off, his tone immediately changing from playful to passive.

All three teenagers sighed, and I did too, but not before noticing a tan cloth pouch attached at the waist on Kakashi's back. If you can't guess what I stole, then here's a hint. It's orange and acts like a second mask daily for Kakashi. Yep, his Come-Come Paradise.

I had it clutched in my paws when he un-slung me from his shoulder. I tried to conceal it behind my back, but the orange was too bright of a color to be that unnoticeable. His eye immediately was drawn to it.

"G-give that back! Now!" He reached his arm around my back and took a snap at the paperback.

"Only if you stop bothering me so much!" I was too busy trying to keep it away from him that I couldn't shout out any other demands.

"Fine, fine. Just gimme it!" He relaxed after I pushed the flimsy novel back into his hands. Then he quickly pocketed it.

And just an F.Y.I., I had no idea what the book was about. I didn't read the title in the short amount of time that I had held it. I wondered what was so special about it…then realized the capabilities of it._ If I could successfully swipe that thing any time, I bet I could get him to do just about any thing I wanted!_ I have a sick mind, but not that sick. The worst vision I had of him was that of the man in shackles building me a permanent mansion on some mountain, and maybe giving me three-fourths of his yearly salary.

Then the man broke his word, and jumped down from the branch, leaving me on my own with no way down, other than climbing. I sat down in defeat, hoping he would come get me and spare me the pain of breaking my neck.

* * *

While it took the ninja less than a minute to defeat 15 enemies, it took them twenty minutes to set up the flipping tent. I was rolling eyes and grunting after the 7-minute mark passed. _At least it's not dark yet. How long would it take them if it were? You know what, I don't care anymore. I'm getting down._

Me plus determination can equal one of two things: Ultimate Success or Epic Failure. There was no in between.

I was all ready really nervous while I was hugging the tree trunk with my legs, just off to the side of the branch I started from. I had my left arm around said branch, and was looking for a notch on the trunk to put my right hand in. I finally found one and stayed like this for a few minutes. Then I continued.

To make a long story short, I ended up slowly sliding down the tree instead of climbing. It had all ready turned pretty dark, and my damp clothes did not help ease the night chill. When my wobbly legs hit firm ground, my muscles were sore from the tension my mind had put on them. I had told myself that they were responsible for my life while on this tree.

I swayed a little and after feeling a tingling sensation, I looks at the palms of my hands. It was dark, but I could make out the many scratches and remains of tree bark still on them. My wrists and a bit of my forearms seemed to have the same look. I guessed from my stinging ankles that I had scratched those too. I sighed and followed the light of my new camping buddies' fire.

* * *

Before they saw me, I pulled my sleeves down over my hands, and held them taut to cover up my scratches. I also grabbed the bottom of my pants and tucked them under my heels in my sandals. _My toes might be scratched up too, too bad. I'll get him back somehow, but I'm going to let him think I got down easily; that his actions did not affect me. If I acknowledge them, then he wins…_

I walked into camp as casually as I could. Three of them were sitting around the bonfire.

"Hey Belle-san, did you find a water source? I want to make this instant ramen here…" Naruto was smiling at me and shaking a package of noodles. Sakura waved and Sai was too busy making shadow puppets from the light of the fire.

I took a moment to decide what to say.

"Sorry, not in that direction. I just had to come back so that I could pick another direction from here. I have to go in straight lines so that I don't get lost, heh." I scratched the back of my head and made a fake laugh. I could wash my arms and stuff off if I found water anyways, so I picked a random direction and started walking.

Before I left, I saw that the tent was lit and inside there was a figure of a man hunched over what looked to be a book. Anger flared up inside me for a minute. He was smug in his tent reading while he forgot all about me. _I guess he never had plans to come back._

I'd keep that in mind the next time.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't know why, but as luck would have it I stumbled across a tiny pond after a good 15-minute walk. I knelt down by the side and started washing my hands, then arms. When they were clean I saw that the bark had punctured my skin. I had a couple splinters, but they were big enough to be easily taken out.

Before I put my ankles in, I saw my reflection in the pond. My face was all dirty, with some mud on it from my former tent floor, and some tiny pieces of bark, but no scratches. My hair was mess too, so I took my clothes off and got in. The water was only 3 or 4 feet deep in the middle. It was cold too, but felt good at the moment.

* * *

Naruto's stomach grumbled as Kakashi jumped out of the tent.

"Did Belle-chan come back yet?" He looked almost surprised, but not quite.

"Yeah, she did, but had to look in another direction for water. Are you sure I can't just use some drinking water to boil? I'm dying here…" Naruto slumped over and if he were in an anime, his ghost would have crawled out of his mouth at that moment.

"She went that way." Sakura pointed to the direction Belle went in. "Do you think I should make her something to eat for when she comes back?" Sakura asked.

"Sure, Sakura. That's a good idea. I'm just going to go get her. Seeya in a bit." He gave a tiny wave and took off.

Sai said when he was gone, "Belle-chan? I only know Belle-san…"

* * *

He found her quickly in a tiny pond. She looked pretty peaceful for someone who was just stuck in a tree. He wished there was some way to see to see how she got down. He didn't expect her to be able to climb down…but then again people do surprise you.

Meanwhile, I was just enjoying the silence. It got to a point where I could hear the very gentle breeze wrapping in and out of the trees, and the distant calls of animals. I jumped a little bit when I heard the screech of a bat._ Ruined the moment…_I sighed again.

Kakashi had hidden himself behind some family of ferns fairly close to the pond. He had a clear profile view of her, and then let his eyes wander…over her of course; nothing else would be as interesting. He had decided he could lose the headband for better viewing purposes.

How did he forget she was in that tree? She could have fallen and broke something, or even worse, died. That book was too good sometimes…but this is just as good. He smiled and blushed a bit. It would be even better if she didn't catch him.

He ended up watching for another 10 minutes before she decided to get out. He tried to stay really quiet as she now stood up in the middle of the pond. Definitely better than his book. A picture's worth a thousand words they say…

Something about her hands and arms looked off, and upon closer inspection, he saw the scratches, and knew exactly how she got them. He felt pretty guilty from then on. She stretched both her arms high above her head, and walked over to her pile of clothes. He noticed that she didn't have a towel to dry herself just as she got dressed again, but he guessed her clothes were still damp. She could have borrowed some of his…

In no time at all, she was walking back to the camp. Kakashi stayed in his ferns and waited awhile, before deciding catch up to Belle before she reached home base.

* * *

I had to admit that the pond may have been a bad idea. Now not only was I wearing more than damp clothes, I also had wet hair. It was too cold to be walking this late at night. I wrapped my arms around me to keep from shivering, and looked down so as to avoid tripping over any roots. That's when I walked into him.

"Oh jeez, what do you want _now_? The water is directly behind me, it's a tiny pond." I stopped to look up at his smirking masked face.

But to my surprise he seemed to have a blank expression on at the moment. He wore it for a few more moments, and I took the chance to pull my sleeves over my hands again to hide the evidence of my lack of tree climbing skills. He immediately looked down at my arms, and then back into my eyes. I realized his left eye was uncovered, and a large scar ran down it. Poor guy, was he half blind? Maybe there was a reason he picked on others…

"I can see that you found water." He stated flat out. "You took so long that I thought maybe that gang was still around and you ran into them." He kept staring into my eyes.

"Sakura is making some food for you back by the tents, so I think we should hurry back before it gets cold…whatever it is she's making." He kept his passive voice the whole time.

"Okay." My anger was seeping out again. "But first could you tell me why that book's so precious to you?" I was going to ask why he left me up in the tree, but I remembered my plan to act like what he did was nothing.

"I don't know…it's a good story?" He was almost talking in a monotone. "And now I'd like to know how you got down from that branch." He started to walk ahead of me and I caught up and followed alongside him.

"Well that's obvious. I jumped." I was being sarcastic. If he wanted to know, I was definitely never going to tell him the truth. It was payback. But I was sure he could figure it out anyways…

"Ha ha very funny." He was staring in front of him. "So how did the climbing go? You have scratches all over your toes, I can see." He wasn't even looking at my feet.

I gave a tiny sigh of defeat.

"Fine. If you must know, I hugged the tree as I very slowly slid all the way down. My hands prove it." I held my hands out in front of me and stopped pulling my sleeves over them. I was looking down. His head snapped over and then he went into one of the pockets on his vest and pulled out a little packet. He tore it open and pulled out a cloth that smelled antiseptic.

"Here, let me wipe them off. This will kill any germs trying to enter and infect your wounds." He had some emotion when he said it, but I couldn't make out which one. He walked in front over me and started going over my hands with the cloth. He spent two minutes polishing my skin before he pushed my sleeve up and cleaned there. I was going to tell him he was taking too long, when he bent down and started wiping down my toes. He followed the scratches to my ankles.

"I'm getting tired of standing here, Kakashi-san." That was the first time I said his name. At least I think it was—did I really not talk to him directly like that before?

He stopped and stood back up.

"Sorry, Belle-chan, I just didn't want you to suffer an infection later." He paused for a bit. "It _was_ my fault, after all. I didn't mean to leave you there so long, and it's not that I was mad at you for taking my book…I mean, I've all ready read it hmmmm, 3 times? 4?"

He stopped again to stare at me.

"I just forgot, but when I realized that you could have fallen and endangered your life, I jumped up to go get you. My students said you went to find water. That was what I told them you were doing…I…don't know what else to say other than I'm sorry."

Blood started to rush to my face as he looked at me for an answer. What was I supposed to say again?

"It's okay…I know you've got a handful to deal with, especially with those comrades of yours…just next time…can you leave me in a lake or something?" I gave a small laugh at the end to make him feel better.

He reached one hand up and ruffled my wet hair a bit. He had a smile, I was sure.

"I won't leave you like that again, okay? Now, let's get back to the team before they let the bonfire spread." He started walking again, but quickly turned around.

"I almost forgot. Your clothes. They've been wet this whole day, and if you sleep in them they'll never dry, plus you'll catch a cold if you didn't all ready. You can wear some of my clothes or Sakura's if they fit you…" He looked at me for another answer.

"I guess, but I want to eat first." I started walking onward and he followed.


	7. Chapter 7

We reached the camp in a few minutes, only to be met with the whines of a particularly hungry shinobi.

"I'M SO HUNGRY!" Naruto's stomach grumbled while he said it. "PLEASE TELL ME YOU FOUND WATER!"

"Calm down Naruto, there's a small pond in the direction we came from. I can reach the pond in 5 minutes at my top speed. You, on the other hand, are so fast it would only take 3—" Kakashi was cut off by an abrupt flash of orange sprinting off to the pond. The sensei gave a loud sigh as he watched his famished student nearly trip on a tree root, stumble, and then carry on. Sakura walked up to me holding something.

"Here. This is some rice that we had left over from the other day. I heated it up by the fire, but it might be a little cold by now…" She pushed the small rice ball into my hand. Yep, definitely cold. "If I were you, I would enjoy eating in silence as long as it lasts." She regained that sour demeanor again, and I knew exactly whom she was talking about.

"Thank you." I smiled and went to sit down next to the fire to warm myself up a little. The rice ball tasted real good. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kakashi retreat into the tent. Then he poked his head outside the tent.

"Hey Sakura, Belle-chan needs a change of clothes. Do you think yours would fit her?" The man yelled across to Sakura who was now watching Sai drawing something by the fire.

She looked at me and I looked at her. I didn't think this was going to work out. Before Sakura was about to reply, Kakashi sensed what the answer would be.

"Okay, that's all right. I have some extra stuff she can wear." He said and then pulled his head back into his tent. I saw his silhouette sifting threw a bunch of bags. I sighed from exhaustion and continued munching on my dinner. Oh, and don't worry. Naruto got back safe and sound; every living thing in the radius of ten miles from here knew.

* * *

I watched as Kakashi set out lots of different but black clothes, or at least a lot in my book. Remember, I only owned one outfit.

"Hmmmm, this is such a tough choice…" I was wasting his time because I just felt like it. We were alone in the tent for now, and could hear the others talking outside. I was staring at one pair of black pants and _another _pair of black pants, trying to decide. I looked over at Kakashi sitting on the opposite end of the tent from me.

And being the great guy he was, he looked at me, rolled his eyes, and lay down on his side not facing me.

"Night then." He lifted one arm to give a little wave.

I randomly took one black long sleeved shirt and one black pair of pants. They were all the same, any ways. Carrying my new clothes, I walked over to him and kicked him in his back. Not hard, but hard enough.

"Couldya get out of the tent for a little bit? So I could, you know—" I lifted the clothes in my hands to show him that I wanted to change. He had rolled over and then smiled.

"Why, don't you trust me not to look?"

"No." I stated what came to my mind flat out, which I don't do too often.

He looked at me, and then got up and walked out of the tent. I could hear his comrades greet him.

When I was sure they were all sitting down outside and not planning to re-enter the tent, I started to undress. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something was bothering me.

Then I realized as I took my shirt off that my underwear and stuff would have to dry. _Damn. I'll just have to be stealthy about this and not let any one see them drying. If anyone finds out, I'm sure to get some cruel nickname or something attached to me…_

But you know, the feeling like I was forgetting something was still there. _Hmmm, maybe I should ask what bag my blanket's packed in? No, it's not that._ Then it hit me.

"_I can reach the pond in 5 minutes at my top speed."_ Kakashi had sounded pretty matter-of-factly right there. But how did he know the pond was that close? _He couldn't have…could he?_ _I would have sensed someone peeping 'cuz women have that kind of intuition…right?_

I found myself staring intently into space, all dressed and ready for bed. I wrapped my clothes around my undergarments and made up my mind. _I should just ask him how he knew. Maybe he was just guessing?_

My gut felt otherwise.

* * *

I found when I walked up to the gang sitting around the fire that they were talking about their mission.

"I can't believe that there'd be that many murders all in the same place and people still are working there." Sakura expressed in a shocked way. "And it's all ready been happening for 3 months, right? Yumai is such a small town, yet this place employs over half the population. Unless they are guest workers from other places, that is."

"Sakura, I agree that it sounds weird, but that's why we've been hired. The only downside to this is that even more people may apply for jobs at the resort if we're there. Sort of like a safety shoe-in for the job hungry." Kakashi-sensei added in.

"How can that resort even still get business? Who wants to vacation in a town where some killer is running on the loose?" Naruto for once sounded older. Maybe he was just tired?

"Kakashi-sensei, how exactly are we going to investigate?" Sai questioned, "I wouldn't mind staying as a guest and working undercover…"

"Yeah sensei, I agree with Sai." Naruto got a little louder as he brightened up at the thought of a half vacation.

Kakashi sighed. "Well, I was thinking that's what we might end up doing, but we'll see what the manager says…"

Meanwhile, I was sitting on the ground next to the fire and listening intently. _I like murder mysteries…_

"Belle-chan, why don't you hang you clothes from that tree next to you? They'll dry better than in they were on the ground." Kakashi-sensei motioned with his head at the tree.

I got up and went to the tree, my mind returning from what I heard to what I wanted to know._ I don't want to ask him in front of everyone…_

I hung my clothes on the branch, but put my damp pants and shirt over what I didn't want seen. I turned around and saw the Sai putting the fire out. Kakashi and Naruto were still in the same spots, but Sakura had gone to the tent to change.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto was pushing his two fingers together. "If we do go undercover…can I share a room with Sakura? I don't think it will be convincing if I'm with another gu—"

"NO!" Sakura's enraged voice came through the tent at full volume. Naruto looked down in despair. I wondered if he was actually scared or just a pervert. Probably both.

Sakura came out in some pajamas that looked not so pajama-y as they looked like regular clothes. I guess if they had to flee in the night, they didn't want to look uncool in a pair of rubber ducky printed pajamas. Then the three males went in to change.

Sakura and I stood in silence for two minutes or so before I asked her something.

"Umm, Haruno-san…is your sensei, you know, respectable?" I couldn't really say why I wanted to know because if she respected him, I didn't want to ruin it.

"Well, personally I think he has his moments where he saves us from getting hurt and stuff, which has made me respect him. But on the other hand, he's always late to things and lies about why. And then there's those books he reads—written by a certain Pervy Sage if that gives you a hint as to what kind of books they are." Even though she was criticizing her sensei, it was easy to tell it didn't really change how she looked up to him.

I also realized why that book was so important to him. Gross. I pretty much was sure that he was pervy…but he never really tried anything on me. _Actually, he did…but he apologized afterwards…does that still count? He could be just manipulating me…_

Before I could think anymore, I heard Naruto call from the tent. Time for bed. I was glad, but also not. I followed Sakura inside and laid down in the far end of the tent. Sakura was next to me, then Kakashi, and next Sai. Naruto was on the outside like me.

I snuggled into my old familiar blanket, which was luckily packed, and then thought about where I was going.

It was then that I realized I was just going along with whatever my ninja friends said, but we wouldn't be together that much longer. I felt a pang of emotion in my heart. _I never had anybody I could trust before. I was always on my own._ I was really getting depressed when I heard someone whispering my name. Kakashi.

"Hey, Belle-chan." I sat up and looked across Sakura at him. He was all ready sitting up.

"Yeah?" I yawned. It seemed pretty late.

"Goodnight." He smiled and laid back down. I summed up my courage three minutes after he had said that.

"Hey, Kakashi…kun?" I wasn't sure if I should have addressed him like that, but he _was_ using an equivalent title for me.

"Yeah, Belle-chan?" He sat up again and looked at me.

"Umm…before, when you said that you could reach the pond in 5 minutes…how did you know that?" I was really quiet but had to stare at him to get the truth. And I didn't like it.

Kakashi went rigid and even in the dark with a mask on I could see some roses appear on his cheeks. That was the only response I needed. I laid back down and turned my back to him, laying on my side staring at the tent wall.

"How long were you there?" I wasn't sure he could even hear me since I asked it so quietly.

There was a long pause, and then nothing. And when I was about to stop listening, he answered just as quietly.

"Ten minutes. I was in the ferns."

My heart sunk disappointedly. I wouldn't have minded as much if he had just saw for a second, and then left.

But he stayed there the whole time and peeped.

My skin crawled with disgust and I let one little teardrop fall.

I never owned anything, but I thought I had certain rights to some things. Privacy was one.

_I'll never get a man with my current social status. No money to my name, no heritage that I know of, not even plans for the future. My body is all I have left to bargain with._

_Was it that hard for him to understand that I wanted to reserve myself for that one, special someone, and not for some stranger's viewing pleasure?_

_

* * *

  
_


	8. Chapter 8

I don't know how long I slept, but it was definitely what you'd call a good night's sleep. When I opened my eyes I found that no one was in the tent, and smelled something edible. When I finally brought myself to my feet, I saw a bowl of something steaming all the way in the corner. I crept up to it, and found that it was a bowl of ramen. _Wonder who THAT is from…_

I figured it was mine since there was no one left in the tent, but after slurping enough of my ramen to wake me up, I noticed how empty the tent looked. It was all tidy—no blankets, no bags, not one sign that life had been here. Minus the ramen and where I slept, of course. I practically dropped the bowl as I ripped open the entrance to the tent.

Gone. Nothing.

A breeze drifted through the campsite and I realized that they were gone just like that.

* * *

"Hey Kakashi-sensei, are you sure we should have left Belle-san in the forest like that?" Naruto interrogated his teacher as the ninja walked towards the town called Yumai.

"For the last time Naruto, you need to understand that she can read. The note will tell her exactly where the town is—it's even in a straight line from the tent. There's no way she'd get lost." Kakashi-sensei was very tired of reassuring his student. Luckily the town was now in sight.

"Yeah, but sensei, weren't we supposed to keep an eye on her?" Sai added in.

"Yeah, Belle-san might have been a spy or something." Naruto was still annoyed that he had to give up his ramen and was taking it out on Kakashi, since it was his idea to leave her breakfast.

"Jeez, Naruto, it was only _one_ bowl of ramen. Your house is stocked with millions of them." Kakashi was more exhausted from answering Naruto's questions than he was when he had carried Belle. And he would have much rather been carrying Belle, but he just couldn't face her after last night. He only seemed to be doing wrong things around her. Not saying he didn't know how to apologize, but he knew from his books that the guys who apologize always get the girls. He wasn't so sure he wanted Belle-chan to cling to him…but he didn't exactly like to leave her back in the forest. It had to be done for the mission, right? She could have become a target if she stayed with them…

Kakashi didn't realize that there was a large silent gap as he thought about these things, and the quietness was broke when Sai chimed in again.

"What are you thinking about, Kakashi-sensei?" He wondered.

"Nothing, just the mission. It's been years since I've been to Yumai. It wasn't so nice back then, and from the looks of it now, I would guess it hasn't changed much." Kakashi-sensei tried to pull his mind away from Belle, but after another 10 seconds, he found himself remembering her stretch in the pond. He was temporarily lost in thought.

"Yeah, it looks pretty run down. Are some of those buildings even safe?" Sakura was looking at an old clock tower in the middle of the town that seemed to be leaning a little to its right. There were lots of little shack-like buildings on the edge of town, and towards the center the buildings got larger but no matter the size, they were all extremely old-looking.

The rest of the team waited to see if their sensei had anything to add, but he seemed to be staring at nothing in particular. Naruto was trying to stop laughing after 3 minutes of walking next to a clueless Kakashi, and Sakura was smiling too. Sai didn't know Kakashi well enough to realize that he didn't usually have that spaced-out look on his face. Naruto started to make moose antlers with his hands on both sides of the sensei's head, and Sakura finally started laughing. Sai was about to smile when the white-haired man snapped back into reality.

"What did you guys say? I didn't seem to catch that…" He started laughing a little bit, and then noticed Sakura and Naruto were laughing at something too. "What's so funny?"

"Naruto was making strange hand gestures by your face." Sai stated. "I guess it was funny."

* * *

I couldn't believe that they just left me like that. Was it even fair? I wouldn't have minded being woken up to come with them, or at least say goodbye. Not to Kakashi, that is. I knew I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye for a while.

I was lying down in the tent again and staring at the ceiling. It wasn't a bad tent, but this wasn't how I envisioned getting my replacement one. I still thought I had one more day…

I pulled my blanket higher over myself, but when I moved my right hand under the blanket, I felt the stinging of a paper cut. I jumped and pulled my hand out of the blanket to examine it.

Then I threw the covers up off me, and found a piece of paper, crumpled up from me having probably slept with it. I straightened it out and read through the message:

_Hey Belle-chan,_

_Sorry to leave you, but hopefully you realized that this tent is now yours. We left for Yumai, which is directly north from here. It may take you a couple hours or two to reach it, but when you do we hope you find a good place to stay and/or a good job._

_Have a great life._

_~Naruto, Sakura, Sai, & Kakashi_

_P.S. Don't go asking around for us, and if you happen to bump into us, act like you've never seen us before. It's in your best interest to not get involved._

Have a great life.

Well, I guess that means that I'll never see them again.

It's probably for the best.

Not.


	9. Chapter 9

"So you four are the leaf ninja, hmm…" The owner of the resort was rubbing his chin and inspecting the group like bugs. "You think you can solve this case? I mean, these are children…" The man paced around his office and seemed to be re-thinking his plan to hire the leaf ninja.

"I assure you, we are all on the same page when it comes to fighting skills. We do our best work as a team." Kakashi had to try and convince the businessman before they were sent back home with no pay. He did not like his time to be wasted by other people.

"I know, I know, but I asked for great ninja, not one overly famous one and three of his sidekicks." The man in his gray, pinstripe suit did not have much in the way of tact. "Konoha ninja are supposed to be good, but I can't help but doubt—"

"I COULD KICK YOUR—" Naruto's outburst was silenced as Sakura slammed her fist down on his head, letting a little of her steam out too.

"Okay, Mr. Ouga. If you want us to leave, we will, but more people might die. Do you want that guilt hanging on your shoulders, or would you like us to free you up?" Kakashi decided on a different path. "Do you realize how much money you will lose when no one wants to vacation at your resort? Word of something like this spreads very fast indeed."

Mr. Ouga sat down in his leather office chair, and thought. While he decided, the ninja couldn't help but notice how much nicer the inside of this house looked versus its outside. The floors were spotless, the walls shined, and in the entryway to the resort, a large crystal chandelier hung overhead. The ninja were now in a smaller room closed off from the rest of the resort by a wooden door. Even the door had some complicated design carved into it. It was all too much, but it was a vacation spot, after all. No wonder so many people wanted to work here.

"Hmm, I guess I can try you guys out. Do I have to provide you a place to stay?" He sighed at the thought of having to give the ninja a free room.

"Well, if it wouldn't be much trouble, we thought we could stay here undercover. As guests." Kakashi hedged, and the owner sat up in his chair. "Although we work well as a team, the four of us staying together will seem sort of odd…we don't exactly look that related now, do we?" Kakashi waved his hand over the rest of the team. "I don't think we'd pass as a family, and I guess we could say that we're all friends, but I'm much older than—"

Kakashi was cut off as a girl wearing something very close to a French maid outfit walked in the door, holding a small silver tray with a drink on it. All three male ninja stared at the maid, and Sakura went to cover Naruto's eyes.

"Sorry to interrupt, Ouga-sama, but I have brought you some lemonade." The girl said very quietly and politely. She winked at Kakashi and walked over to Mr. Ouga.

"Thank you, my dear. I hope to talk to you tonight," Ouga picked up the glass and then growled, "in my quarters. Alone." He gave the girl a devious grin.

"Oh you! I'll do as you wish, Ouga-sama." She nodded her head, smiled, and turned to leave. Not before Ouga stuck his hand up her skirt. "Oh, stop!" She laughed and then glided out of the room.

"What happened?!" Naruto quickly asked as Sakura removed her hands.

"Well, a girl—" Sai stopped when Kakashi grabbed his shoulder and spoke loudly.

"Nothing."

Naruto did not looked convinced, and Sai had a confused expression playing across his face. Naruto looked at Sakura, but she just shook her head at him. Naruto pouted.

"Well, back to your request. I suppose I could allow you to stay, Kakashi, but I don't know about your friends…" He looked at the three young ninja while he took a sip of his lemonade. "I think you'll find that this isn't exactly the place for children…Might I suggest them staying at the hotel across the street? I'll pay for the expenses, of course." He looked back to Kakashi.

"What do you mean _not for children_? What's in that lemonade!? This place isn't dangerous at all or my name's not Uzumaki—" Sakura's fist won again.

"I see your point. Naruto! Sakura! Sai! You three will stay at the hotel Mr. Ouga suggested. I will stay here." He looked at all three of them. "I'm counting on you to be my outside eyes and ears, got it?"

"HAI!" All three chimed in.

* * *

I admit, it took a while to take down the tent. It was just too big. I was lucky enough to find my previously wet clothes dry and folded, placed in a cloth bag. I had all ready changed out of Kakashi's clothing an hour ago, and it was probably around the middle of the day. Maybe a little bit past it.

I decided to trudge on to Yumai and hopefully find a good paying job. After all, I had to make some money to at least buy myself food, since I all ready had a place to stay. And that would be my tent.

I'm just lucky like that.

* * *

Kakashi did not exactly like the idea of being separated from his teammates like this. Not that they wouldn't be separated if they had all been guests, but with them gone, he felt like he might not be so focused on his mission. It would be nice to relax though...

Okay, it's not like we all don't know what he finds distracting about the resort.

Mr. Ouga had asked one of the maids to give Kakashi a tour of the facilities. Every corner he turned, he found more and more maids with super short skirts. Not to mention low cut shirts, and lots of them giggled when they caught him staring. He found himself barely listening to his guide.

"Here we have the swimming pool, and in fact right up the stairs down the hall is a large library. Pretty amazing, hmm?" She had all ready taken him through this hallway, but acted as if she had forgotten. Her tone of voice changed on the "hmm" part of her question. Kakashi knew why she was leading him in circles.

"Listen, umm, I don't mean to be rude, but I'd really like to get back to my room…" He trailed off as he watched another group of girls following a man to the pool. There seemed to be only male guests here, as he had assumed before. For some reason he felt bad that he was staying here. Almost as if he was lower-than-low to come to a place like this.

"All right, why don't I accompany you there then." The maid had walked in front of him, and raised her hand to undo his black trench coat around his neck. He caught her wrist.

"No thanks, I all ready know where to go." With that, he walked as quickly as he could down the hall and weaved in and out of people, mostly maids, to lose her. Some called after him, asking if he needed assistance with _anything_, and he sped up some more.

It wasn't exactly paradise for him. _All these girls are too shallow for me…_

_

* * *

  
_

Kakashi collapsed on his king-sized bed as soon as he got into his room. He had taken the "Do Not Disturb" sign, and put it on the door handle outside. Then he quickly slammed the door and locked it both with his room key and with the metal latch. He had taken his trench coat off and thrown it on the giant couch in front of the fireplace.

The trench coat was annoying, but necessary. Its huge collar at the top was enough to hide his lower face from the side, but if you stood in front of him you could clearly see his entire face.

Yes, his entire face.

He could not afford to be conspicuous and so he had to lose the mask. Not that he didn't keep one stuffed in the pocket of the coat anyway…but it still made him feel a little exposed. He closed his eyes and sighed.

There were way too many maids, and he felt like he was being watched every second, which made him almost paranoid. He was like a walking target.

And the way the maids were always so happy made him very suspicious of them. If they knew something, then all of them certainly were in on it…

Plus they all act and look the same, minus the different hair, skin, and eye colors. He was curious once again as to why girls all had to look the same to be accepted.

Well, most of them anyway.

…

He thought about how he would have to pay special attention to everything now that he was the only inside man. He even had to keep watch on Mr. Ouga and his actions without letting the man catch on, but it's not like he could just check up on him every day like the maids could.

Like the maids could.

_Hmm, it would be good if I could ask one to do that…but can I trust any of them? No, definitely not._

He lay in bed for a while and thought through how he planned to investigate. He'd need to find out things that the employees knew without the boss knowing, and without the other workers finding out too.

_I'd have to really know the person to trust them not to blab anything._

_…_

_Sakura is too young, and I'd never make her do anything like that._

_Naruto can transform, but not forever._

_I could probably copy it, but I have even less chakra than him._

_Sai is no help either._

_Who else is there?_

He couldn't help thinking back to the person who he was secretly missing.

_But I don't really want her to have to subject herself to this either…But I'll be here if she needs help…_

_How can I ask her to do this after all that's happened? She'd definitely refuse.._

_Unless I really pour on the sugar when I apologize._

Kakashi waited more than a few minutes to make up his mind and then slinked out of his room to find Belle.

_I will make it up to her somehow._


End file.
